The Gainesville Planning and Appeals Board recommended approval on March 8 for a rezoning request for property located on the southwest side of the Dawsonville Highway and Beechwood Boulevard intersection.
Interface Properties, LLC proposed to develop the 6.6 acres of land into a commercial district. Phase one plans include a fast food restaurant and an auto service shop. Commercial plans for phase two are unclear, but developers suggested a child care center or self-storage units.
However, residents from the adjacent Beachwood Estates neighborhood were opposed to this rezoning request.
Christine Osasu, a nearby homeowner, claimed commercial development on Dawsonville Highway and Beechwood Boulevard intersection will create more traffic concerns for residents.
“Businesses want to generate traffic, right? Yes, that's the idea of business,” Osasu said. “So if they have any kind of backup here and they can't turn on Dawsonville Highway because [it’s] already clogged up, where do you think they're going to use? They're going to use the Beechwood entrance, right? And that's going to greatly affect us.”
Other residents cited the increase of car accidents at the intersection. A resident claimed 185 accidents have happened between Dawsonville Highway and Beechwood since 2016, citing an open record request.
To reduce accidents and alleviate traffic concerns, the Georgia Department of Transportation plans to install an R-cut median.
“The Georgia Department of Transportation does have plans to redesign the median cut at Beechwood Boulevard and Dawsonville Highway,” Matt Tate, the community and economic development deputy director, said. “It’s currently an open median, so if you take the chance and make a left out of there it's very dangerous at times. What [the Georgia DOT’s] plan is to put in a R-cut, so that it would no longer allow for left turns off of Beechwood Boulevard onto Dawsonville Highway. The site itself really will be limited to right in right out the main access drive.”
Attorney Tyler Smith spoke on behalf of Interface Properties, LLC, claiming their proposed development will not impact traffic, according to a conducted traffic impact study
Osasu and other residents remain unconvinced of this report because their neighborhood only has one entrance and one exit. She provided a personal anecdote of waiting for 30 minutes during traffic buildups on Ahaluna Drive, which is near the Dawsonville Highway and Beechwood Boulevard intersection.
“On Ahaluna Drive, all those people who live down that road further back can be stuck on that road,” Osasu said. “Personally, I've experienced it [for] more than 30 minutes during the holiday season to even exit their subdivision because of those developments.”
There are 65 active residents in the Beechwood Estates area. According to Osasu’s door-to-door petition, at least 70 percent of residents oppose the development.
An unused Trinity Baptist Church currently occupies the property and has been there since 1970.
Interface Properties, LLC received six votes from the Planning and Appeal Board in favor of recommendation. Kelvin Simmons was the only board member who did not vote in favor of the rezoning request.
The Gainesville City Council will make the final decision at their April 19 meeting.
